Basavanna Poems

BasavannaBasava (also known as Basaveshwara (1134–1196) was a philosopher and a social reformer.
He fought against practice
of caste system and rituals in Hinduism. He is also called as "Vishwa-guru". His
teachings and preachings go beyond all boundaries and are universal and eternal.
He was a great humanitarian. Basava advocated a new way of life wherein the
divine experience was the center of life giving equal opportunity to all
aspirants regardless of the gender, caste, and social status. The cornerstone
behind his movement was the firm belief in a universal concept of God. Basava
has a proponent of monotheistic concept of formless God.
A true visionary with ideas ahead of his time, he envisioned a society that
flourished enriching one and all. In addition to being a great mystic, Basava
was the Prime Minister of the Southern Kalachuri Empire in South India and
originated a literary revolution by introducing Vachana Sahitya. Basava is said
to have been a mystic by temperament, an idealist by choice, a statesman by
profession, a man of letters by taste, a humanist by sympathy, and a social
reformer by conviction. Many great yogis and mystics of the time joined his
movement enriching it with the essence of divine experience in the form of
Vachanas (Lit. sayings - sacred hymns in Kannada) that define a new way of
looking at God and life.
Basava's path later gave birth to a new religion (or "Sampradaya") called
Lingavanta Dharma or Lingayata. Other synonyms for lingayata are: Basava Dharma,
Sharana Dharma, Vachana Dharma.